After the Rosetta Stone ... Timothy Ely and his language
Wanting to start the new year on a very positive note … I wish to say a few words about the compelling and visionary work of Timothy Ely.
Ely addresses the world of language as part of his artistic vision that incorporates bookbinding, printmaking, drawing and painting in making his unique handmade books and prints. His works are in many private and public collections including the Brooklyn Museum Libraries where I first encountered his work when I was overseeing the artists’ book collection there. Doppler Gossip entered Brooklyn’s collection in 1991 through the generosity of Daniel and Joanna S. Rose who had seen me and then Museum Director Robert Buck admiring this book on view at the Christie’s auction held April 10, 1991 to benefit the Center for Book Arts (CBA) in New York. The donors saw our enthusiasm for the book and said the magic words "would you like to have this for the Museum Library collection?" Timothy Ely had a long standing connection to the Center where he taught in the 1980's and his work has been included there in several exhibitions since.
Doppler Gossip, as well as other works by Ely, appeals to me on many different levels ranging from materials used to his keen ability to make invisible connections visible as he uses text and images to communicate many ideas. His philosophy is explained in this October 2021 interview where he discusses his influences and methodology including creation of his own drawing system and language he created known as Cribriform. Through his work, Ely explores written forms of language which are not easily understandable such as hieroglyphics, ciphers and cryptographs.
One keen interest we share is Ancient Egypt as exemplified with Ely’s book Flight into Egypt commercially published by Chronicle Books in 1995. Ely states that he was inspired by his Grandfather’s imaginary sojurn to Egypt and created this book to chronicle aspects of Ancient Egypt that fascinated him. From the book’s colophon: "The Flight into Egypt: Binding the Book is a reproduction of a one-of-a-kind painted book … which was conceived in Portland, Oregon, in 1983 and built in 1984. It was completed in 1985 in New York. The original is 16 1/2 by 13 inches and includes bits of papyrus and pigments ground from flint that was gathered near the site of the Great Pyramid at Giza.” The original manuscript for Ely’s book, entitled The Flight into Egypt. The Third Magnitude, was created with mould made paper illustrated with watercolor and mixed media depicting Egyptian images, imaginary maps and charts, indecipherable hieroglyphics, “Cribiforms” and other symbols and imagery. Ely’s drawings of structures such as obelisks and pyramids provides a platform of intellectual and visual ideas. Further discussion of Ely’s work can be found in numerous publications including the Terence McKenna Archives and this essay by Ian Boyden.
His work has been most recently celebrated in an exhibition at the San Francisco Center for the Book entitled Cognitive Distance: the Bookworks and Thoughtforms of Timothy C. Ely. In the accompanying exhibition catalog further explanation by Ely can be found of The Flight into Egypt:
“… was a commission from the late Philip Smith, my friend and great artist. He told me that his favorite book of mine was Binding the Book: the Flight into Egypt that I made in 1985 and asked if I would be willing to use it as inspiration for a book for him, including the way it was sewn on guards. It was an honor and no small challenge, as this work was to go into the hands of the Master, a man I consider to be Earth’s greatest bookbinder. I have long had a fascination with ancient Egypt. For this book I wanted to create a tapestry of linked images that expressed my take on its enigmatic art, religion, science, mathematics and astronomy - itself a unique view of celestial patterns. All these topics are recurrent triggers for my work, and the Egyptian mindset gives them a fascinating twist.”
Another area of shared interest with Ely is the work of German scholar Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) who attempted to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics. My proposed exhibition at the Grolier Club will include work by Kircher and Timothy Ely and touch upon their connections through time on language, decipherment and translation.